i have the Escort 8500 X50, works fine for me. picks up anything on the highway. in the city, its tough to know what its detecting, but now that im familar with whereever i go, i know when its gonna be an false alarm. if im in an area that im familar with and it detects something unusual, i pay close attention to it.

IMO, i would keep the $300 and try not to speed anymore. just leave the house 3-5min eariler and drive the limit. if i could get my $300 back for the escort, i would return it now that i drive the limit now.

chris96camaro

11-20-2005, 12:46 AM

http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=9090

i have the Escort 8500 X50, works fine for me. picks up anything on the highway. in the city, its tough to know what its detecting, but now that im familar with whereever i go, i know when its gonna be an false alarm. if im in an area that im familar with and it detects something unusual, i pay close attention to it.

IMO, i would keep the $300 and try not to speed anymore. just leave the house 3-5min eariler and drive the limit. if i could get my $300 back for the escort, i would return it now that i drive the limit now.

i mean i dont drive very fast over the limit, about like everybody else i guess...i just want one to know when there is a cop around just to be safe...

trevor87

11-20-2005, 12:54 AM

Does cobra make good ones? What are some good brands that pick up everything?

prioracy

11-20-2005, 12:55 AM

beltronics makes some solid radar, i beileve they are not that much either, around the 100-200 range

cobra makes garbage

ne thing by beltronics depending on budget, escort, and valentine 1 are tops on my list, i have a beltronics for about 1 1/2 years, hasn't failed me yet..

Prowler573

11-20-2005, 01:13 AM

beltronics makes some solid radar, i beileve they are not that much either, around the 100-200 rangeThey also have detectors in the $300+ range that are better.

cobra makes garbageNot all of Cobra's detectors are garbage...but most are, sadly. Nothing they make comes close to Escort and Bel's top offerings.

ne thing by beltronics depending on budget, escort, and valentine 1 are tops on my list, i have a beltronics for about 1 1/2 years, hasn't failed me yet..The V1 isn't an incapable performer...but it's behind the times, really.

They've not updated the design or the electronics contained within for several years now. There are only two real advantages to the V1 over its competitors: (1) It has extraordinary X-band detection ~ twice, three times or more better than the Escort and Bel units. Unfortunately the only law enforcement agencies using X-band radar guns to any degree are the smaller towns (the 'backwaters', if you will) that have limited police department funding and cannot reasonably afford to upgrade the equipment to modernized gear. (2) It has those nifty directional arrows indicating the direction from you that the radar threat has originated. Personally, I don't care what direction from me the cop is. If my detector can pick up signals from his radar then potentially his radar can lock onto my car regardless. If it goes off and I'm speeding then I'm going to slow down until the threat has ceased to activate my detector. The top dashtop offerings by Escort (the Passport 8500 X50) and Bel (the Pro RX65) beat the V1 hands-down in K-band and Ka-band detection. IMO those are much more crucial.

It's not widely known but Escort and Bel detectors are made by the same people since Beltronics was bought out by Cincinnatti Microwave 2 or 3 years ago. The above-mentioned top dogs from both companies are made in the same factory and have the same internals. The only real difference is the button placement and cosmetics of the casing.

I have the Bel Pro RX65. I participated in the factory-direct rebate program they had running at the time I bought it and after the rebate hit my Visa it cost me a few cents shy of $300 including shipping, tax, and a three-year warranty which includes any software upgrades that may become available within the warranty period (if detector sophistication becomes measurably better over the next three years all I have to do is ship it to Bel and they'll flash the bios to upgrade it to the newest software and ship it back) It's worked flawlessly for me thus far and saved me far beyond the three Benjamins in cost me to buy it.

SO! chris96camaro ~ to answer your question...the best Escort out right now is the 8500 X50. Retail pricing is around $300 for the red display and $30 or so more for the blue display. The best Bel out right now is the Pro RX65 and expect retail pricing to be in the same neighborhood...between $300 and $350 or so, depending on the retailer. Certainly they'd be cheaper on eBay but you'll get no manufacturer warranty.

I just had a look at Beltronics' site and their trade-in program is still in effect. If you have an old detector (regardless of brand or condition) and mail it to them after purchasing a Pro RX65 factory-direct they'll rebate you $80. So....getting one for just shy of $300 including shipping and a (VALID!) three-year manufacturer's warranty is still possible. :D

bikejunkie223

11-21-2005, 02:18 AM

I have had a V-1 for about a year now, and it has paid for itself 10 times over, and I don't speed. The myth about only small town cops still using x-band is exactly that, in Oregon, the State Patrol uses x, and k and ka + Lidar. (with Lidar you are basically hosed) Buy the one that you like the looks of best, as the v-1, Escort8500, and the bel one that is basically an 8500 are all nearly the same. If you do get the v-1, spend the few bucks extra and but the remote display/hardwiring kits. Valentine recomends mounting the detector up high, and other drivers will gravy train your detector on the freeway, and it's extra obvious to cops to have a big coiled cord hanging down (looks ghetto too).

xplcitcustmz

11-30-2005, 02:30 AM

Too bad i just sold my v1, 255 shipped i sold it for,

snb778

11-30-2005, 03:47 AM

http://www.radarjammers.com/ Rocky Mountain Radar Detectors and Jammers. ARE THE BEST out on the market right now.

Rocky Mountain is the company that actually makes the police radars, and the also coincidentally make the detectors to so... They also will pay for any ticket you get in the first year.

I have one, it has saved me sooo many times while speeding. I used it on one of those street detectors and it messed it up pretty good.

Rocky Mountain Radar detectors detect front and rear (360 degree). They cover the X, K, Ka, SuperWide, Pulse, Instant-On, POP, and Photo radar. They also cover all Laser Radar, Pro-Laser, LTI, and Laser-Lite. Our detectors also detect the new Safety radar and Safety Warning System (SWS) used by emergency vehicles.

Rocky Mountain Radar jammers, like our detectors, protect against all radar and laser (lidar). Our jammers are legal because they do not transmit radio frequencies. The radar portion is a receiver not a transmitter. This is why our jammers are legal! They use a FM chirp, a mixer, and a waveguide antenna for all radar bands the FCC allows the Police to use. The lidar portion is active and transmits a specially modulated field of light in front of the vehicle with infrared diodes. There are no laws against light so no laws against laser jammers. The radar and lidar portions of our jammers confuse the radar/laser gun which prevent a hard reading of your speed. This makes your vehicle electronically invisible to police radar and laser guns.

JimJ

11-30-2005, 04:51 AM

I got a chuckle out of that page :)

Passive jamming of a radar signal, by its very definition, is a silly concept. "Reflective receiver"? Who do they think they're kidding? Once you've disrupted the RF carrier, you have to get it back to the cop somehow, I wonder how that happens...yup, it's transmitted back. And the thing still has an IF signal that, although you can attenuate it, will still be able to be received if you know where to look for it.

If I really wanted to jam police radars and not have legal ramifications (well, of the same magnitude ;)), I'd build myself one of these: http://www.wavelen.com/projects/24ghzWB.html :) Also helps that I have a license to operate something like this near the major police radar bands :D

Also helps that I have a license to operate something like this near the major police radar bands :DI will assume that you know, Jack, that the enforcement capabilities of the FCC against illegal transmission equipment are limited at best and, in some locales, non-existant at worst. I neither now nor have I ever held an amateur license in any grade. That doesn't stop me from being able to acquire and use pretty much any kind of gear I like. I've never been game to actually talk on the dedicated amateur frequencies (as I do not hold a license obviously I have not been issued a call sign) but I can certainly listen as much as I like. In my hometown in all the years I have been a part of the 11-meter community I have only seen evidence of the FCC cracking down ONCE. That was an individual who had sufficient gear to interfere in the use of televisions, radios, telephones, and pretty much any other type of device susceptible to RF interference within a several block radius. (his final drive amplifier required 3-stage 220v). It's all in storage now but I had better than 1Kw of output in the last 'decent' mobile setup I used and I never received any adverse attention from it. Shoot - I know where several NIB RCI-2950s are for sale right now for under $200 with the conversion to give it no skips from 26mHz to 32mHz already done!

Some more interesting reading...

http://www.google.com/search?q=passive+radar+jamming&hl=en&lr=&safe=off
Here's (http://www.1-radar-laser-jammers-detectors.com/our-store/radar-jammers/index.php) the one I found the most humorous after seeing the first sentence in snb778's post.

MastaFlex

11-30-2005, 07:11 PM

ive wanted a radar detector cuz i need one. I go about 30 over atleast wherever i am, but in the 2 years i hav ebeen driving i havent been pulled over yet, lucky i guess......

JimJ

11-30-2005, 07:16 PM

Ah, the (in)famous Ranger "10-meter only, of course" rigs :D I always get a chuckle out of the freeband operators up in the 27.5xx range running kilowatts into those massive coil-loaded whips that could probably cook steak at full key down...I don't have a problem with them not having licenses (as long as they stay out of 10 and 12 meters), but running that much power into basically an air-cooled 50ohm dummy load doesn't make too much sense :) My modified Icom 706 does only 25 watts AM on 11, but it's going into a full-sized quarter wave :yumyum: With a perfectly clean signal, to boot.

But I digress...

Glad to see someone else here has knowledge of how RF signals work, and how Rocky Mountain might as well be selling muffler bearings and blinker fluid...